Lesley Manville’s Ghosts extends run

The Almeida Theatre production of Ghosts, which stars award-winning actress Lesley Manville, has extended its run at London’s Trafalgar Studios until 22 March.

The hit production, which is directed by former National Theatre Director Richard Eyre, had been booking to 8 March. It has lengthened its run due to demand for tickets.

Henrik Ibsen’s drama follows Helene Alving (Manville), a woman whose life has been lived in an emotional void following the death of a husband whose outward façade hid a cruel reality. Determined to be rid of lingering ghosts from her past, she decides to tell her son the truth of the matter. But on his return from France she discovers he has inherited more from his father than she thought.

The drama, described by Official London Theatre’s Kate Stanbury as “an enthralling production of a calibre that is hard to beat” and by The Guardian’s Michael Billington as an “extraordinary production”, was first seen at the Almeida in September 2013. It garnered so much acclaim, including an Evening Standard Theatre Award for Eyre, that it transferred to the West End in December.

Stage and screen regular Manville, who received an Evening Standard Theatre Award nomination for her central performance, is joined in the West End cast by Jack Lowden, Brian McCardie, Charlene McKenna and Adam Kotz.

While the harrowing drama of Ghosts continues to fill the Trafalgar Studio 1, a more light-hearted tale will soon be told in the Trafalgar Studio 2. One-man impressions show The Only Way Is Downton plays in the theatre’s more intimate space from 27 January. Written by and starring Luke Kempner it follows the characters of the hit ITV drama as they face another crisis, one that can only be solved with the help of today’s celebrities.